15:45 27-06-2026

Pagani didn’t copy Ferrari and Lamborghini: customers didn’t want an electric supercar

Horacio Pagani admits the company developed an EV alongside the Utopia until 2022, but customers showed no interest — so the project never moved beyond planning.

Pagani did seriously look at the idea of an electric supercar, but a production car isn’t happening. The project emerged during the development of the Utopia and stayed on the table for a while, yet it never moved past the planning stage.

Horacio Pagani explained that for a small company, an electric hypercar turned out to be too complex a challenge. Pagani doesn’t have the resources of Ferrari or Lamborghini, and the brand’s core expertise has always been about lightweight construction, aerodynamics, hand-assembly and naturally V12 engines. According to the founder, work on the electric project ran until 2022, and ended up consuming even more time than the combustion car.

Demand turned out to be the deciding factor. Pagani said customers showed no interest at all in a battery-powered supercar. For a small manufacturer that’s critical: the company can’t afford expensive development if buyers aren’t willing to pay for it. So instead of an EV, the brand pressed on with the Utopia and its V12.

That said, Pagani doesn’t see electric cars as a dead end. Horacio spoke warmly of the Pininfarina Battista and acknowledged that a market for electric supercars exists. It’s just that Pagani’s clients right now want something different — mechanical feel, the sound of an engine and a car with its own distinct character.